Canadiens pull one out of the fire

Christopher Higgins had a chance for atonement last night and
he made the most of it.

By The Gazette (Montreal)March 29, 2008

Christopher Higgins had a chance for atonement last night and he made the most of it.

Higgins failed to score on a breakaway early in the third period against the Buffalo Sabres, but he capped an improbable comeback when he scored at 3:32 of the overtime period to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win.

"I felt pretty bad about that," Higgins said. "It was a chance to take (a 2-1 lead) and then they scored a minute or two later. That crushed me for a bit, but Mark (Streit) made a good pass and I was able to sneak behind there. I was at the far post and was able to redirect it."

The win enable the Canadiens to move back into first place in the Eastern Conference standings with 98 points, one ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was a devastating loss for the Sabres, who are battling to grab one of the final playoff spot. They picked up a point but still find themselves four points behind Boston and five points behind Philadelphia, which picked up a point in a shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils to move into seventh spot in the East.

Higgins said he didn't feel the momentum changing when Tomas Plekanec scored twice in the final 2:31 to tie the game.

"I don't think we played well in any period," Higgins said. "Tomas scored two big goals for us but, even though we won, we're not happy with the way we played. I suppose it's a natural letdown after clinching the playoffs, but it's something we talked about before the game, but we played exactly like we said we didn't want to play."

The Sabres had taken a 3-1 lead on goals by Nathan Paetsch and Daniel Paillé and appeared to be cruising to an easy win. They had neutralized the Canadiens' top-ranked power play by staying out of the penalty box. Montreal had only one power play before Alex Kotalik was called for tripping at 16:16.

Plekanec deflected a shot by Streit at 17:31 and then batted home a rebound of another shot by Streit with 14.6 seconds remaining on the clock.

"There wasn't any time to get momentum," Plekanec said. "It was one of the last shifts and we just pushed hard. The last goal was a great play by the guys on the board. (Streit) did a great job of getting the puck to the net. It hit a few people in front and I was able to get the rebound."

The goals were Nos. 28 and 29 for Plekanec, who has scored seven goals against the Sabres this season.

Price, the rookie goaltender with the veteran nerves, stopped 26 of 27 shots over the first two periods and finished with 35 saves.

The only puck that got past him in the first two periods was a half-hearted shot by Drew Stafford, which went in off Higgins' skate at 2:25 of the second period.

But the Canadiens managed to tie the game at 19:23 when Alex Kovalev combined with rookie Mikhail Grabovski on one of those passing plays which winds up in the nightly highlights package.

Kovalev, who was on the right wing, passed to Grabovski on the left. When Ryan Miller moved to close down the angle, Grabovski passed back to Kovalev, who put the puck into an empty net.

The Canadiens had trouble establishing any continuity in the first two periods because they took a series of penalties.

They did manage to survive five Buffalo power plays over the first two periods, an impressive feat for a penalty-killing unit which ranks 21st in the NHL.

The Canadiens are No. 1 on the power play, but they had the advantage only once in the first two periods and the Sabres managed the only shot.

The Canadiens' road trip continues tonight when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, CJAD Radio-800). The Maple Leafs have been eliminated from playoff contention, but they've split six games with the Canadiens this season.

Coach Guy Carbonneau is expected to make some lineup changes.

Jaroslav Halak will get his fourth start of the season in goal, while Patrice Brisebois will be back in the lineup after three games as a healthy scratch.

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